This invention relates to the field of baseball gloves, and more particularly, to baseball gloves that are designed to facilitate better control and ease of use of the glove by the player who is using the glove.
Baseball gloves are as old as the game itself. Yet many improvements have been made in baseball gloves over these many years as the game itself has become both quicker and harder to play due to technological advances in the construction of both baseballs and baseball bats, and also due to the higher level of fitness, strength and size of today""s baseball players. In order to keep up with these subtle, yet ever present, changes in the way the game is played, baseball gloves have also needed to evolve.
Some obvious changes that came to pass over the years in the design and construction of baseball gloves for professional baseball centered around the change of design between a catcher""s glove, first baseman""s glove and gloves worn by the rest of the players. As the game developed and became more popular and a realization of the specialty characteristics of the catcher and first baseman positions became more evident, the gloves for these positions also adapted and changed more rapidly than for other positions. In particular, as most people know today, a catcher""s glove is far different in shape, composition and purpose, than are the gloves of any of the other positions on the field, while this is also true, but to a lesser extent, for a first baseman""s glove.
As the game further developed over the years, and as we are presently situated, there are specialty gloves for essentially all of the classified positions: catcher, first baseman, infield (consisting of second base, shortstop and third base), pitcher and outfield.
While any baseball glove (except possibly for a catcher""s glove), could today be used by the standard weekend warrior at any position, without regard to whether the glove is specially designed for a particular position on the field, the subject invention is directed to a glove to be used in a higher level of play; such as by high school, collegiate or professional players. In particular, the subject baseball glove is more specifically directed to a more highly flexible outfielders glove for use by such high school, collegiate and professional players in order to facilitate the xe2x80x9ctrappingxe2x80x9d of the ball securely within the glove after it is caught by the outfielder.
Over the years, other gloves have been designed to be more flexible, and whether they have achieved this result or not is not known (but is considered irrelevant), as their construction is significantly different than the construction of the subject baseball glove invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,481, issued in 1982 to Latina, and is directed to a baseball mitt, and in particular a catcher""s mitt designed to be more flexible due to the positioning of a glove 11 secured to the back of the mitt body 5. Essentially, the ""481 patent discloses that glove 11 is oriented on the back of mitt 1, in such a way that the normal mechanical opening of a person""s hand is more directly aligned with the single hinge-line 31 of the mitt. As will be discussed below, while the ultimate result of the construction of the mitt of the ""481 patent is somewhat similar to the end result of the end construction of the subject invention, significant differences in that construction exist so as not to render the disclosure of the ""481 patent relevant in this matter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,915, issued in 1989 to Keene, for a baseball glove with a flexible heel construction. Here also, while the ""915 patent discusses a more flexible glove, this is where the similarities to the subject invention end. The ""915 patent specifically discusses achieving a flexibility in the heel portion of the glove for use by children and young adults, while also discussing a single hinge-line 59 for the glove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,641, issued in 1997 to Doi et. al., for a flexing baseball glove. The ""641 patent shows the cooperation between a hole 8 located along the hingeline of the glove and the extension portion 4, to allow for the increased flexibility of the glove. The subject invention has no such hole or extension portion to assist in its flexibility.
Accordingly, while each of the above cited patents possibly achieve increased flexibility to the glove through their particular constructions, it would also be desirable to achieve higher flexibility in a baseball glove without the added smoke and mirrors of the above discussed prior art, in a baseball glove that is more conventionally constructed.
In accordance with the invention, a flexible baseball glove is provided. The glove comprises front and back shells which are joined together both along the periphery of the glove and selectively at internal portions of the glove, in such a manner as to form a finger portion, a heel portion and a thumb portion thereof. A web-type panel is disposed between the finger portion and thumb portion and at least two finger stalls and one thumb stall are formed within the glove, between the joined front and back shells. A first finger stall of the at least two finger stalls is closed, so that fingers of the users hand cannot be received into that stall. The glove also comprises first and second hinge assemblies located along the heel portion, wherein one of the hinge assemblies is closer in proximity to the thumb portion of the glove, while the other hinge assembly is closer in proximity to the finger portion of the glove.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved baseball glove.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved baseball glove that is more flexible in its use to a higher level of player, such as a high school, collegiate or professional player.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an improved baseball glove for an outfielder, where the fingers of the user""s hand which are within the glove are shifted further from the thumb of the user""s hand to achieve a stronger closing action.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide an improved baseball glove having two hinge assemblies along the heel of the glove, instead of the normally found single hinge assembly.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the following description.
The invention accordingly comprises assemblies possessing the features, properties and the relation of components which will be exemplified in the products hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.